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Nellie Jacobowski

Here you go: Try saying my name five times fast. This was my curse throughout my educational career.

Hi, my name's Nellie Jackobowski. Apparently, my parents appreciated names so much from the 1700s enough to name me after someone from that century. People bullied me for having that elderly name, but it wasn't like I named myself. It's my parents' fault I got bullied, but I never admitted this to them.

"Hey, watch it." The biggest bully in the school, an immature boy named Jasper Eloinse, exclaimed as he trudged past me. Our shoulders bashed against each other, and he shoved me out of his desired path.

I hissed in annoyance. "Get away from me, you dirty dishrag."

He glared down at me on the floor as a scowl erupted from his lips. "Good-for-nothing blithering idiot. Piece of shit, you are. I don't even care what your name is anymore."

Jasper sauntered away from me, ignoring the remainder of my existence while cackling at his antics.

Another student in the hallway stopped short to reach out his hand, connecting with mine to pull me to my feet. His height was slightly below mine, black hair coating his head like a blanket cozily. The color of chocolate painted his eyes with a gleaming color.

"Let me guess." He covered his forehead with a free hand. "Jasper Fucking Eloinse pushed you, right?"

"You know it," I confessed, agreeing with a dry, humorless chuckle. "He's just a jerk."

"No, he's a rancid bully," The boy answered, inspecting my wrists for bruises since I landed on them in an attempt to catch myself. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, nothing hurts," I told him happily. "Thanks, even though I don't know your name. That's pretty cool of you."

"No problem," He mumbled. "Jasper does it to me all the time. Unluckily, there never seems to be anyone who wants to help. I'm alone in a maze filled with monsters."

"Why would he bully you?" I questioned, tapping my chin in inquiry. "The only reason I'm bullied is because of my name."

"What's your name?" The boy asked. "It can't be that bad."

"Nellie," I sighed. "Nellie Augustus Jacobowski."

The boy burst into a fit of laughter, covering his smile as he cackled. "Sorry, sorry, it's just your last name is...strange."

I turned bright red at the face, feeling the heat wash over my complexion. "I know, it sucks big time."

"My name's Nico Di Angelo," Nico replied, still smiling. "I get bullied by him too, if that makes you feel any better."

"Why would you get bullied?" I asked, gesturing towards his perfectly normal form. "You seem pretty scary as it is, with all the black and stuff. Not to be rude, though!"

His smile faded into the abyss. "I'm gay, that's what it is."

I nodded, as if by expectancy. "There's nothing wrong with that. I have a gay friend that's bullied as well. It doesn't make you any different."

"I'm glad you support LGBTQ+ then," Nico admitted, shrugging his mangy shoulders. "Some people just don't see our side of things."

"Like who?" I wondered. "Other than Jasper and his imaginary posse, of course."

"I used to go to this school with my boyfriend." Nico shifted uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders as if by habit. "There was another blonde guy attending there, and his name was Octavian. He seemed as straight as a line, never liked gays at all. I was bullied by him because he hated homosexuals and called us all terrible slurs."

I touched his shoulder, which made him flinch at my contact. "I'm sorry he treated you so horribly. Whatever happened to him?"

Nico let out a humorless laugh. "He died."

My jaw dropped slightly, as I wasn't expecting that answer from his mouth.

That only made Nico laugh harder, beautiful giggles escaping his throat.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing." Nico pulled to a stop from his chuckles. "But yeah, I haven't faced many homophobes as bad as him since I moved here. I was in a public park and Jasper found me with my boyfriend hanging out on the swings. Long story short, he didn't fail to exploit me for it the next day at school."

"Bro needs to get his priorities straight," I grumbled.

"Don't I know it," Nico scoffed. "I've never really bonded with anyone about this. This experience is...comforting, in a way."

"Me neither," I admitted truthfully. "My gay best friend doesn't like talking about being a homosexual because he doesn't want to get bullied by Jasper. So far, only I know about his sexual identity."

"It's terrible how people have to hide their true sexuality because they're afraid of getting harassed by bullies like Jasper." Nico crossed his arms, tapping the edge of his shoe against the wall behind our bodies. "Jasper needs a taste of his own fucking medicine."

"You know what? He deserves it. I'm in."

A certain blonde boy whisked into the hallway, one I certainly didn't recognize from our school yearbooks. I'd never seen him before, and Nico looked stunned out of his bones when they locked eyes. And not in a good way. The Blonde's lips curled into a malicious smirk as he surged towards us.

"Is that Octavian?" I gasped.

Nico's head bobbed up and down, and somehow his face grew even paler than it already was.

"Di Angelo!" Octavian roared from the other end of the hallway. "What a surprise it is to see you again!"

"Octavian." Nico growled back, his eyes glowing with pure rage and wrath.

I stood there next to him, ready to charge in and intersect if I was needed. Nico was strong enough to handle the guy on his own, but I didn't want to let him down.

"What're you doing here?" Octavian asked briskly, still maintaining his crooked grin.

"Getting away from you," Nico declared. "I thought you died."

"Nope!" Octavian inched closer to Nico, who stepped backwards in return.

"Get away from me!" Nico bellowed as Octavian grabbed his forearm. "Let go of my arm, Octavian!"

"Get away from Nico!" I screeched at the secondary bully. "He deserves to be treated equally!"

Octavian glared daggers at me, pushing my lean body to the ground. Dust settled on my thighs as I regained my balance.

"You're just a puny girl. Mind your damn business!" Octavian snarled. "This is between Di Angelo and I only!"

From behind Octavian, another blonde appeared and knocked the big bully unconscious with one swing of his pure fist.

Wrapping his arms around Nico, I finally realized who had come to our rescue.

"Thank you," I whispered nervously, wiping snot from the bridge of my nose. I turned to Nico. "So, I guess he's not dead?"

Nico smiled weakly. "Guess not."

"Is this your boyfriend?" I asked, gesturing to the blonde who saved us.

The blonde nodded proudly, smiling widely and shaking my hand willingly. "I'm Will. Will Solace."

I bit my lip anxiously. "My name's Nellie Jacobowski."

Will laughed a little, but covered his mouth to conceal his laughter.

"I get that a lot," I admitted. "It's okay to laugh."

A/N This was inspired by A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. This chapter was super fun to rewrite, and I managed to keep the "He Died" fiasco in there for your enjoyment. 

Thanks for all the love <3